Welcome back for Part 2 of this beginner barbell guide! If you missed Part 1, read that first as it covers the basics of equipment and etiquette. And remember that while you may think you’re the only one in the gym who doesn’t know the basics, I promise you that you’re not. Even some of the people using them regularly don’t actually know the basics. My goal is to make sure that you’re not one of them. We covered points 1-6 in the first guide, so let’s pick right up where we left off … Getting Started 7. Stick with…

It’s no secret that I’m on a mission to get as many women as possible picking up barbells. It doesn’t matter what your fitness goals are; barbells are excellent tools to add to your arsenal. But as someone who used to be super intimidated by barbells, I get that, for many women, there are some significant barriers — most of which boil down to a lack of readily available knowledge about the logistics of using them. However, that’s an obstacle I feel confident we can overcome. So, let’s talk about the things you should know about barbells. My hope is that…

It’s possible to spend a lot of times building out a workout. You can use all kinds of equipment, determine how many reps you want to do for each, break it all down into supersets, really focus on specific muscles working in very particular ways, create brand new combination moves, you name it. You also don’t have to do any of that, if you don’t want to. Now, I’m gonna go ahead and guess that just making time for the workout itself is enough of a commitment on most days — I know that’s the case for me, and I…

I never saw myself becoming a competitive CrossFit athlete prior to signing up for my first competition a year ago. My friend, Katie Kecman, says the same thing about the powerlifting meets she’s been participating in for the past year. And yet, here we are, both of us having earned spots on the podium in our respective sports. How does that happen? How do two people who are primarily into running and yoga become decorated CrossFit and powerlifting competitors? In this post, I talked a little about my experience — how I got started and what it took to be…

I’m not big into using machines at the gym. I definitely prefer free weights — you know, barbells, dumbbells, and kettlebells, oh my! There’s something I just really love about my body having the responsibility of stabilizing and moving the weight along a specific path rather than letting a machine do it. Mostly, I suppose, because this mimics life and the sports I enjoy participating in. But there is one machine that I use frequently — the cable machine. It’s a machine that look like a big tower with a pulley system in the center, and has adjustable weights and…

Welcome to Friday’s For The Love of Food, Summer Tomato’s weekly link roundup.

This week it’s time to stop fat shaming, natural beauty product makers want more regulation, and how much strength training is necessary.

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Links of the week

Everything You Know About Obesity Is Wrong – “Fat activism isn’t about making people feel better about themselves. It’s about not being denied your civil rights and not dying because a doctor misdiagnoses you.” Important read. (Huffington Post)

There are few things in the world more frustrating than working your butt off and not seeing results. I’ve certainly been there and spent a ton of time scrambling to figure out what I could do differently. We’d all like to believe that if you’re putting in solid, consistent effort in the gym and in the kitchen, it will continue to pay off and get you closer to your goals. But sadly, the reality is that it’s really not that simple. There are so many reasons why you might find yourself hitting a plateau. Here are some of the most…